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Paraphrasing
What is Paraphrasing
• When you paraphrase, you rewrite information from an outside
source in your own words without changing the meaning.
• Convey the author’s ideas but change the author’s words and
sentence structure.
• Change as many words as you can (use synonyms) but keep the
key terms (e.g., technical vocabulary).
• Include in-text citation to give formal credit to the original writer(s)
and source.
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Writing a Successful Paraphrase
1. Read the original passage several times until you understand it
fully. Underline the key words. Look up unfamiliar words and find
synonyms for them. Do not change key terms or proper nouns.
2. Take notes while you read. Write down only a few words for each
idea – not complete sentences. Make a brief outline.
3. Write your paraphrase from your notes. Do not look at the
original while you are writing.
4. Compare the paraphrase to the original to ensure that you have
not copied vocabulary or sentence structure too closely. Also,
make sure that you have not changed the meaning of the original
or given any wrong information.
5. Add in-text citation. Add a works-cited list if appropriate.
Techniques for Paraphrasing
An effective paraphrase includes more than one of the following techniques. If
you use only one of these technique when paraphrasing, you have not
paraphrased effectively.
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1. Use Synonyms or Antonyms
Original: The implementation of the new policy significantly improved
student engagement and learning outcomes.
Paraphrase: Implementing the new policy led to a notable improvement
in student participation and academic achievement.
Original: The study revealed that the medication was effective in
reducing the symptoms of the disease in a majority of the patients.
Paraphrase: The research demonstrated the drug’s success in
alleviating the disease’s symptoms for most patients.
1. Use Synonyms or Antonyms
Original: The U.S. government declared that the AIDS crisis poses a
national security threat. The announcement followed an intelligence
report that found high rates of HIV infection could lead to widespread
political destabilization.
Paraphrase: The government of the United States announced that AIDS
could harm the nation's security. The government warned the population
after an important governmental study concluded that political problems
could result from large numbers of people infected with HIV (Snell,
2005).
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1. Use Synonyms or Antonyms
Original: When I studied in Mexico City in 1980, telephone access was
neither easy nor inexpensive nor of good quality. Attempts to call home
were infrequent, costly, and often unsuccessful, which led to feelings of
isolation and vulnerability.
Paraphrase: Huesca says that phone calls from Mexico City in 1980
were expensive and of poor quality.
2. Change the Parts of Speech of Some Words
Original: The implementation of the new policy significantly improved
student engagement and learning outcomes.
Paraphrase: Implementing the new policy led to a notable improvement
in student participation and academic achievement.
Original: Medical professor John Swanson says that global changes are
influencing the spread of disease.
Paraphrase: According to John Swanson, a professor of medicine,
changes across the globe are causing diseases to spread (James, 2004).
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2. Change the Parts of Speech of Some Words
Original: When I studied in Mexico City in 1980, telephone access was
neither easy nor inexpensive nor of good quality. Attempts to call home
were infrequent, costly, and often unsuccessful, which led to feelings of
isolation and vulnerability.
Paraphrase: According to Huesca, calling home while aboard used to
fail regularly and would leave students isolated and vulnerable.
3. Break Up the Ideas and/or Combine Them
Differently
Original: When I studied in Mexico City in 1980, telephone access was
neither easy nor inexpensive nor of good quality. Attempts to call home
were infrequent, costly, and often unsuccessful, which led to feelings of
isolation and vulnerability.
Paraphrase: Huesca points out that students studying abroad often felt
lonely because of the difficulty of calling home, which was expensive and
often failed.
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4. Connect to Your Own Ideas to Integrate the
Quote into Your Paper Topic
Original: When I studied in Mexico City in 1980, telephone access was
neither easy nor inexpensive nor of good quality. Attempts to call home
were infrequent, costly, and often unsuccessful, which led to feelings of
isolation and vulnerability.
Paraphrase: Huesca talks about the problems of calling home while
studying abroad over 30 years ago, noting the cost and the poor
connections, but he does not point out how technology has changed
things.
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5. Change the Sentence Structure and use
different connecting words
Original: Although only about one-tenth of the world’s population lives
there, sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit region, accounting for
72 percent of the people infected with HIV during 2000.
Paraphrase: Approximately 10 percent of the world’s population resides
in sub-Saharan Africa. However, this area of the world has the highest
percentage of AIDS-related illnesses. In fact, in 2000, almost three-
fourths of the population had the HIV virus (Bunting, 2004).
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6. Change numbers and percentages to different forms
Original: The survey indicated that 75% of the respondents were
satisfied with the new online learning platform.
Paraphrase: Three-quarters of the respondents expressed satisfaction
with the new online learning platform, as indicated by the survey.
Original: Minority groups in the United States have been hit hardest by
the epidemic. African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S.
population, accounted for 46 percent of the AIDS cases diagnosed in
1998.
Paraphrase: The AIDS epidemic has mostly affected minorities in the
United States. For example, in 1998, less than 15 percent of the total
population was African, but almost half of the people diagnosed with
AIDS in the United States that year were African America (Jenson, 2000).
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7. Change word order
This might include changing from active to passive voice or moving
modifiers to different positions.
Original: Angier (2001) reported that malaria kills more than one million
people annually, the overwhelming majority of them children in sub-
Saharan Africa.
Paraphrase: Every year, more than a million people are killed by malaria,
and most of the victims are children who live in sub-Saharan Africa
(Angier, 2001).
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8. Use different definition structures
Original: Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by a
bacterium transmitted by ticks (small bloodsucking arachnids that
attach themselves to larger animals). The disease is usually
characterized by a rash followed by flu-like symptoms, including fever,
joint pain, and headache.
Paraphrase: Lyme disease – a disease that causes swelling and redness
– is caused by a bacterium carried by a small arachnid known as a tick.
The ticks attach to and suck the blood of animals and humans,
transferring some of the Lyme disease bacteria into their hosts and
causing symptoms similar to the flu (Wald, 2005).
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9. Use different attribution signals
Original: “That’s because there are so many different ways the diseases
could have arrived,” veterinarian Mark Walters declared in his recent
book, Six Modern Plagues.
Paraphrase: According to Mark Walters, a veterinarian who wrote Six
Modern Plagues, the disease could have arrived in numerous ways
(Peterson, 2004).
Mark Walters, a veterinarian who wrote Six Modern Plagues, states that
the disease could have arrived in numerous ways (Peterson, 2004).
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To successfully paragraph, you must:
• Use at least two of the above strategies (particularly strategies 1 to
4) to change the text – but make sure you do NOT change the
ideas.
• Include the name of the source. Use phrases like the following to
give credit to the source:
• According to [author/title], …
• [Author] states/claims that …
• In [name of article/book], [name of author] states/claims that …
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Compare these Examples
Good VS Bad Paraphrase
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Analyzing
the Model
The writing model consists of
two passages about
language. One is an excerpt
from an encyclopedia entry
about language by an author
named Stephanie Wallen. The
other is a paragraph of the
excerpt.
Read the models. Then
answer the questions.
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Original Passage Paraphrase
1 There are more than 6,500 1 The world is home to over
unique spoken languages across the 6,500 different spoken languages. 2
globe. 2 Technology has made great People have developed new
progress in helping speakers of innovations to aid communication,
different language communicate with but challenges still exist. 3 Some
one another. 3 However, there are still language experts believe the solution
many challenges. 4 Linguists have to these difficulties is a universal
tried to develop a universal language. language, a language that all people
5 A universal language is one in the world could speak. 4 Having a
language that all people in the world common language could simplify
could learn. 6 If we were able to many aspects of life, such as
successfully create such a language, education, international trade, and
many things would be much simpler, even global friendship (Wallen).
including education, global business,
and possibly even world peace
(Wallen).
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Questions about the Model
1. How do the original passage and the paraphrase differ sentence
by sentence? What are the differences between them in
sentence structure and words?
2. What is the last word of the first sentence in the original
passage? Where does a synonym of this word appear in the first
sentence of the paraphrase?
3. What is the first word of the second sentence in the original
passage? What word replaces it in the second sentence of the
paraphrase?
4. What word replaces challenges in the third sentence? What
word or phrase replaces linguists?
5. Which two sentences in the original become one sentence in
the paraphrase?
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The world is home to over 6,500 different
There are more than 6,500 spoken languages. People have developed
unique spoken languages across new innovations to aid communication, but
the globe. Technology has made challenges still exist. Some language experts
great progress in helping speakers believe the solution to these difficulties is a
of different language communicate universal language, a language that all people
with one another. However, there in the world could speak. Having a common
are still many challenges. Linguists language could simplify many aspects of life,
have tried to develop a universal such as education, international trade, and
language. A universal language is even global friendship (Wallen).
one language that all people in the More than 6,500 different spoken languages
world could learn. If we were able are spoken around the world. Technology has
to successfully create such a made a lot of progress in helping people who
language, many things would be speak different languages talk to each other, but
there are still many difficulties. Linguists tried to
much simpler, including create a universal language that everyone in the
education, global business, and world could learn. If we could successfully
possibly even world peace develop a language like this, many things would
(Wallen). be easier, including schooling, the world
economy, and maybe even global friendship.
(Wallen).
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The Original Passage Paraphrase 1:
Students frequently overuse In research papers, students often
direct quotation in taking notes, quote excessively. To address this,
and as a result they overuse minimize the verbatim transcription of
quotations in the final [research] sources during note-taking and aim to
paper. Probably only about 10% of restrict direct quotes to about one-
tenth of your research paper. (Lester 46-
your final manuscript should 47).
appear as directly quoted matter. Paraphrase 2:
Therefore, you should strive to Students often use too many direct
limit the amount of exact quotations when they take notes,
transcribing of source materials resulting in too many of them in the
final research paper. In fact, probably
while taking notes. only about 10% of the final copy
should consist of directly quoted
Lester, James D. Writing Research material. So, it is important to limit the
Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47. amount of source material copied
while taking notes.
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